Two international human rights organizations called for the immediate release of Nasrin Sotoudeh and Reza Khandan
The arrest of Reza Khandan, the husband of lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, has sparked a reaction from international human rights organizations.
Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Research Director, called for the unconditional release of Ms. Sotoudeh and her husband in a statement issued on Wednesday, September 4.
“Authorities first arrested Nasrin Sotoudeh on trumped-up charges, then harassed and threatened her husband and friends, and now have arrested her husband,” the Amnesty International official said in the statement. “These callous actions show the lengths to which the Iranian authorities will go to silence the voices of human rights lawyers, even targeting their families.”
Philip Luther continued: "Iranian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Nasrin Sotoudeh and her husband, exonerate them of the charges, and put an end to the persecution of this family once and for all."
At the same time, the HRANA news website quoted Mohammad Moghimi, Reza Khandan's lawyer, as saying that Branch 7 of the Evin Prosecutor's Office has filed charges against Mr. Khandan of "gathering and colluding against national security," "propaganda against the system," and "spreading and promoting the lack of hijab in society."
According to this lawyer, ultimately, a bail of 700 million Tomans was issued for Reza Khandan, and he was transferred to Evin Prison.
Following the arrest of Nasrin Sotoudeh's husband, Human Rights Watch also announced that the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have intensified their crackdown on human rights defenders.
Human Rights Watch also noted in a statement the arrest of three lawyers and Nasrin Sotoudeh's husband in recent days and called on the Islamic Republic's authorities to immediately release them.
On Tuesday, it was reported that security forces arrested Reza Khandan, the husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh, and took him to Evin Prosecutor's Office.
Mr. Khandan had previously said that he had been summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence by telephone, but that he would refuse to go there because this type of summons was illegal.
Amnesty International immediately condemned Reza Khandan's arrest and called for his unconditional release and that of his wife, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist also imprisoned in Evin.
The US State Department also tweeted in Persian that it is "closely following" news of the arrest of Reza Khandan and several lawyers who have recently been arrested in Iran.
Reza Khandan had previously informed the media about the judicial and security measures taken against his wife.
Nasrin Sotoudeh has been on a hunger strike in Evin Prison for eleven days, prior to her husband's arrest, in protest of the processing of her case and that of other arrested civil activists.
Source: Voice of America
